The Ataris: The Boys of Summer
by Green Gallant
Summary: 36 year old Richard Grayson returns to his hometown of San Antholas to survey his old stomping grounds, a lot has changed in 20 years. Friends move away but the memories still linger. AU. Based on the song. One-shot. Slight Richard/Kori.


_Authors' note: Hey its Green Gallant, this is an old fic I put on the back burner a few years back and had been meaning to post it for the longest time. Let me know what you think. This songfic is dedicated to **CausexofxMayhem. **Here's my Boys of Summer songfic as promised. _

**The Ataris: The Boys of Summer**

This story takes place about 20 years into the future, with Richard thinking back to the summer that changed his life.

In the sleepy little neighborhood on the west side of a small town, a black Cadillac CTS sedan was driving down the street. Behind the wheel was 36-year-old Richard Grayson. There was nobody else on the road except for a couple of parked cars. He heads out of town towards the beach. A few minutes later he was driving down the beach road, the beach was empty not another soul around for miles. As he pulled into the parking lot he stepped out of his car took his shoes off and made his way down to the shore. He was wearing a black dress pants, a white dress shirt and a red tie. As he stood at the edge of the sandy shore he gazed out into the ocean the waves crashing back and forth. This was the place he used to hang out with his friends.

A while later he drove out to the lake back on the west side of town and found it just as empty as the beach the sun was starting to set on the sleepy little town, Richard got back in his car again and drove back into the neighborhood where he first started. As he got the street corner he slowed down as he drove up to an old blue 2-story house. Driving at only a couple miles per hour, he gazed at the house that was once home to a very dear friend of his. The place lay empty, a For Sale sign sat in the front yard. After seeing enough he drives off, leaving the forgotten house behind.

_20 years ago summer of 2006._

It was a bright and sunny summer day. In this time we see a younger version of the house. The block is full of life, with the sounds of children playing and cars going down the street. In the 2nd story bedroom, a beautiful teenage girl with bright red hair and Sunkist skin was getting ready for the day, standing by the side of her bed; she slipped on a pair of jeans and pulled on her purple tube top. She walked up to the mirror to comb her fiery red hair. Putting on a pair of sandals at the door she walked downstairs and out the front door. Outside she found her best friend waiting.

"Hey Kori." He greeted.

"Hi Richard." She replied.

"You ready to go meet the guys?" he asked.

"Yeah." She said.

"Come on." He said and they run down the sidewalk together.

A couple of blocks down the street they meet up with Vic and Rachael outside his house.

"Hey, what's up guys?" Rich said high-fiveing Vic.

"Awesome, you guys finally made it." Vic said.

"Where's Gar?" Kory asked.

"He's still inside getting dressed." Vic said pointing over his shoulder.

"So, what are we doing today?" Rachael asked.

"We're headed down to the skate park." Rich said.

"Gee, that sounds like sooo much fun." She said sarcastically.

"Ha ha, you'll like it Rachael trust me." Rich said.

"Oh yes, it is lost of fun!" Kory said enthusiastically.

"What to fall on my butt? Pass." She said.

"Oh come on Rachael, you never do anything fun!" Gar said walking up to them; the gang turns to see him.

"About time you got here." Vic said.

"Hey lighten up buddy; my Mom would let me go until I told her where I was going." Gar explained.

"You still tell your mom where you'll be?" Rachael asked.

"You're 14." Richard added.

"You know how overprotective moms can be." He said.

"Mine's not." Rachael crossed her arms.

"Me neither." Said Vic.

"Mine is a little." Kori said.

"It's not like I'm going to come home all green or something." Gar said.

Richard just stood there quietly.

"Can we get going now?" Gar said annoyed.

"We're waiting on you!" said Vic.

"Then let's go!" Gar said, put his skateboard down and took off with Vic.

Rachael sighed and started walked. Richard stood there lost in his thoughts.

"Richard…" Kori's voice was faint and distant to him.

"Richard…"

"Richard." Kori placed her hand on his shoulder. He snapped out of his trance and looked at her.

"Are you all right?" she asked, showing concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine Kor." He said, his face held such a sad expression.

"…You were thinking about her, weren't you?" she asked.

He looked away from her. She took his hand that was by his side and squeezed it gently. Her eyes reflected the same sadness and concern for him.

"Its no big deal." He said, letting go of her hand.

"Come on, we better catch up." He told her.

She sighed and continued after him. They managed to catch up to their friends at the skate park where Vic and Gar were already grinding the rails. Kori was grinding the half-pipe and doing a pretty good job of it Rachael just stood there arms folded as she watched the others. Richard got up on the half-pipe where Kori was skating and dropped in. Rachael rolled her eyes and went over to the arcade that was inside the skate park. Vic and Gar flew up the half-pipe and over landing in the foam pit that broke their fall.

The guys crawled around in the blue foam boxes and made their way to the edge as another kid landed in the pit not far from them. Richard and Kori skated past each other on the half-pipe and smiled at each other as they passed. Richard did a one-hand stand on the ledge before flipping over and continued skating. After building up some momentum he sailed off the wall and flew into the air. Kori looked up from the ledge as he twisted his body and landed on the ramp beside it that was like 12 feet away he nailed the landing and flew up the pipe landing on the adjacent ledge next to her.

Everyone that saw it cheered wildly. Raven was in the arcade playing a shoot-em-up game when she heard the wild burst of applause and looked out to see him standing on the ramp across the way. She smiled, she didn't know what happened but whatever it was must have been amazing. She went out and asked someone what happened, she was right she was defiantly surprised but what she heard. Unfortunately she also heard a blood-curdling scream coming from about 2 ramps over. That was also the day Gar broke his right knee on a railing he was trying to grind. His friends had to ride with him to the hospital and then explain to Mrs. Logan what happened to her son; needless to say she wasn't too thrilled.

The adult Richard chuckled to himself remembering the ride the to hospital. He had never seen his friend in such a state; he was such a crybaby he thought to himself. Even though it wasn't funny at the moment they spent the rest of the summer reminding Gar of the incident. The fact that he spent the rest of the summer in crutches wasn't punishment enough. He considered that payback after breaking his own leg in motocross the year before and how Gar gave him a hard time. Served him right the way Gar kept hitting his leg until he punched Gar in the face. He didn't bother him anymore after that. With the way his friends were it's a wonder they didn't kill each other…or themselves for that matter.

As he sat there reminiscing he wondered how they ever got along with each other. That's what he liked about Kori, they never got into arguments she was too sweet to fight him with him. Not to mention it was hard to stay mad at her, she had that affect on people. Kori was one of the few people you couldn't stay mad at no matter what she did. Rachael was kind of the same way. Rachael was always the mature one; she had to be sometimes with the way they acted.

He remembered all the placed they got thrown out of because of their antics. Whether it was feeling up the mannequins at department stores or racing through the mall in shopping carts(that was mostly Vic and Gar) sometimes she wondered why she ever put up with them. Of all the people she could have been friends with in school, she had to choose these guys. He continued to remenense as the sun started to set. And the songs opening chords could be heard from his car radio. When he heard the song start up got off the hood and climbed into his car. It was time he got out of here.

_Nobody on the road  
Nobody on the beach  
I feel it in the air  
The summer's out of reach  
Empty lake  
Empty streets  
The sun goes down alone  
I'm driving by your house  
Though I know you're not at home. _

He started up the car and threw into reverse the tires skid in the dirt as he hit the brakes and took off down the mountain road. As he drove down the hill he peered across the lake and remembered all the fun times he had with his friends especially with Kori on the wave runner

_But I can see you-  
Your brown skin shining in the sun  
You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby  
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong  
After the boys of summer have gone. _

He remembered all of his years playing high school baseball with Gar and Vic. She was there every game with a smile and a cheer. He always performed better when she was there. And they knew it, which is why they encouraged to come to every game since he was the pitcher. It was then they started dating and thier relationship escalated quickly. They were such a perfect match for each other enjoying each other's company it was only natural they'd take it to the next level. All those evenings laying next to the rivers' shore in the park.

_I never will forget those nights  
I wonder if it was a dream  
Remember how you made me crazy?  
Remember how I made you scream  
Now I don't understand what happened to our love  
But babe, I'm gonna get you back  
I'm gonna show you what I'm made of_

They broke up and got back together several times like many couples through it all thier relationship endured. Though it had to brave many storms shifting back and forth between friends and lovers. Then at one point being demoted to sibling-figures which wasnt easy for Richard. It seemed as thought their relationship wouldnt recover after that. And were back to being single by the time prom came around, that was a tough time for him too. Maybe even harder than before.

_I can see you-  
Your brown skin shining in the sun  
I see you walking real slow and you're smiling at everyone  
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong  
After the boys of summer have gone  
_  
The one redeeming value of that night was that they had one final dance together. Which kind of gave them a sense of closure. Even though Kori didnt want to admit it to him she still had feelings for him welled up inside.

As he drove down the road a large black Cadillac passed him at 90mph and cut him off. Richard hit the brakes to avoid hitting him and blew his horn as it drove off. The Caddy had an Anarchy flag on the trunk next to the logo. He remembered that Kori's sister Kami use to wear an Anarchy necklace some of the time. He reached for his cell but his mind rebuffed him telling him not to pick it up and decided against it.

_Out on the road today, I saw a black flag sticker on a cadillac  
A little voice inside my head said, "don't look back. You can never look back."  
I thought I knew what love was  
What did I know?  
Those days are gone forever  
I should just let them go but-_

I can see you-  
Your brown skin shining in the sun  
You got that top pulled down and that radio on, baby  
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong  
After the boys of summer have gone

Ironically Kori happened to be on the other side of town in a red Mustang convertible listening to the same music. Finally Richard decided to forsake what his mind was telling him and began dialing. Kori's phone rang and she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kori."

"Richard!"

"Is this a bad time?"

"No. How have you been?"

"I've been doing good, keeping busy. I was in the area I wasnt sure if you wanted to catch up."

"Sure Richard, that'd be great."

"Cool. Meet you at Joey's in a few?"

"Yeah I could go for some stuff crust pizza." she said.

"Great see ya then." he said.

"OK, see ya soon."

"Bye."

"Bye."

_I can see you-  
Your brown skin shining in the sun  
You got that hair slicked back and those wayfarers on, baby  
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong  
After the boys of summer have gone _

"Let's see if I can make things right this time around." he said as he sped downtown.

_Author's Note: All right now that is more like it. I'm sorry for earlier. I thought about breaking it down into two parts but I found that didnt really work. Anyway this is one of my favorite songs and I finally have it done the way I wanted...more or less. So let me know what you think of this and if you really like it. I've fallen behind on updating and posting new stories so I'm making up for it now. This fic is dedicated to my friend **Causexofxmayhem**mainly because she likes the song too. I know its not your favorite pairing but how many people are going to do an Ataris songfic? _:)

_Please review, _

_The Green Gallant_


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